


Mute in Passing

by BlueEyedArcher



Category: Far Cry 5
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Angst, Angst and Feels, Blood and Injury, Brotherly Love, Character Death, Funeral, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Sadness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-07-04 20:17:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15848595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueEyedArcher/pseuds/BlueEyedArcher
Summary: It came out of nowhere, shattering the peaceful countryside like a hammer through fine crystal. The shards of a life crumbling to the ground in messy pieces, loud and mortifying. A lone bullet sliced through the air, laced with enough bliss for a man who has cultivated a high tolerance over time. Instead of hitting it’s mark, the lead projectile ripped through flesh and burrowed itself snug inside the body of an innocent. The red and black checkered fabric of the flannel masked the dark burgundy stains blotting across the thin material. Jacob blinked in shock, his instincts screaming at him to return fire, to seek out the hostile and eliminate them. Another part of his brain cried out to find cover but all logic and rationality was shoved to the side as the pale freckled features of his guard dog twisted into a grimace of agony. The world submerged into a slow motion display, taunting him as the body crumpled with weakness, pushed off balance by the momentum and power of the gunshot itself. A mid step stumble leading to the raven haired man to collapse to the ground. His eyes unblinking, staring straight out at the dusty earth."No! Not again!" The words burst from the Heralds lips.





	Mute in Passing

**Author's Note:**

> [This shares the same universe as the Hope County Collection but does not affect that series or the universe whatsoever. This was a solo piece focusing on Jasper that I felt I needed to write in the spur of the moment.]

It came out of nowhere, shattering the peaceful countryside like a hammer through fine crystal. The shards of a life crumbling to the ground in messy pieces, loud and mortifying. A lone bullet sliced through the air, laced with enough bliss for a man who has cultivated a high tolerance over time. Instead of hitting it’s mark, the lead projectile ripped through flesh and burrowed itself snug inside the body of an innocent. The red and black checkered fabric of the flannel masked the dark burgundy stains blotting across the thin material. Jacob blinked in shock, his instincts screaming at him to return fire, to seek out the hostile and eliminate them. Another part of his brain cried out to find cover but all logic and rationality was shoved to the side as the pale freckled features of his guard dog twisted into a grimace of agony. The world submerged into a slow motion display, taunting him as the body crumpled with weakness, pushed off balance by the momentum and power of the gunshot itself. A mid step stumble leading to the raven haired man to collapse to the ground. His eyes unblinking, staring straight out at the dusty earth. The world jumped back into a whirlwind of activity as several more peggies split up and started to hunt down the sinners. 

 

The explosive burst of automatic rifles was dulled by the thundering rush of blood pulsating in Jacob’s ears. His hands grasping at the flannel covering Jasper’s back, pulling on his arms before he rolled the mute over to face him. The pale features were slack, blood smeared his cheek where the rough gravel scraped it up, his dark locks spread across his forehead. The herald brushed them aside and cupped his cheek as he spoke in hurried words, his other hand dropped to feel the point of impact where the bullet was lodged. Blood soaking through the expanse of clothing, making it sticky and warm across his hands. Jacob balled up as much of Jasper’s jacket as he could to cover the wound, to stop the bleeding. His palm slipping from Jasper’s cheek to cover his nose and mouth, feeling for air but his chest ceased to rise and not even the gentlest breeze stirred his palms with warmth and life. 

 

“Come on pup! You can’t do this to me. Wake up. Ya gotta wake up pup!” Distant images bounced across the soldier’s mind, blurred visions of the past. Of gunfire and blood. Of dirt and dust, the futile screams of anguish and the pale unmoving forms of men once considered to be family. “Nonononono. Not again.” He blurted, hands gripping Jasper’s stomach as he pressed down on the injury, his glacial blue hues sweeping across the motionless form. “Fuck!” He cursed. “I’m not losing anyone else god dammit!” Bullets ricocheted near him as he began chest compressions. He never moved or flinched as the gunfire carried on. He remained in his own little bubble, unhindered and uninterested. 

 

“Come on pup.” Jacob begged, the smooth carefully constructed tone that he had cultivated was shattered and strained. Pulled raspy by the bursts of activity and the rising emotion building in his throat, making a solid lump of bitterness rest at the base. The subtle cracking and give of Jasper’s rib cage with every powerful press was a gruesome reminder to Jacob but he continued on undeterred. Even as the gunfire faded out and the distant echoes of shouting in victory drew nearer. The peggies that fended off the hostiles, even killing a few sinners along the way, grew quiet as they observed Jacob’s desperate efforts. Silence settled as they watched the frail figure of their Guard Dog tremble with every compression. The young man seemed untouchable, much like their Herald. With every set, Jacob bent down to breathe air into Jasper’s lungs. The cloying scent of bliss curling at his nostrils and tickling over his tongue. As much as Jacob wished to deny it, the massive dose of Bliss that had enter Jasper’s system through the enemy bullet secured the herald’s worst fears. 

 

It took several more sets before he submitted to the harsh reality of the situation. His men remained vigilant, protecting their Herald in his trying time but the hard truth was an impossible rock to swallow. He drew the body of the guard dog up into his arms, his fingers brushing the raven locks away from the pale features, thumb stroking over the scrapes across Jasper’s cheek and the light bruising that had formed. He held him gently, eyes burning as they attempted to focus in the bright mid afternoon sun. He swallowed thickly, failing to do so, he gave it another try until it went down. The hard lump swelling up to suffocating size, making him struggle for every breath. It took little effort to hoist the limp figure up into his arms, shifting Jasper around enough for his head to rest against his shoulder. He tucked his arms against his chest and took unsteady strides towards the truck. 

 

The peggies didn’t say a word, conflicted on whether they should continue their patrols or follow their herald in the adjacent vehicles. With no orders to follow, they watched helplessly as the pair was loaded into the truck and their herald drove away, a dust cloud erupting in their wake as he flew down the road. Jasper’s form was laid across the back seat, his head carefully nestled against a spare blanket tucked into the back. Jacob eyed him in the rearview mirror before his hazy eyes darted towards the road. His fingers gripping the wheel until the leather groaned in protest, his knuckles bleached white. The trees and rivers passed by in a blur, the beauty of the Montana countryside leaving little to admire with the heavy weight bearing down on his chest. He gave a shaky breath, trying to rein in his emotions, to steel himself for the troubles to come but it was futile. 

 

The time passed by quickly, yet another blur to his racing thoughts as he pulled up the long winding drive to Joseph’s compound. The guards pausing briefly outside before letting him through. It was unheard of for the heralds to show up without warning, causing a stir among those present at the compound. They gathered outside their homes and their huts, standing around to gawk at the display. Joseph emerged last from his church to greet the sudden arrival, brows creased with concern as Jacob stepped from the truck alone. A single look at the eldest Seed and the Father knew something terrible had happened. The sneaking echoes of past shadows already curled around the soldier, reminiscent of those dreadful days when Joseph had found Jacob a huddled mass in the shelter. The pallor and haunted look in the man’s eyes was a warning, preparing Joseph only briefly for what was to come. 

 

When Jacob emerged from the backseat with the mute in his arms, the Father understood. A few gathered peggies attempted to help the herald but were driven off with a menacing snarl. Any who touched Jasper received an elbow to the rib cage and a dark look driving them into the ground. Joseph approached but kept a respectful distance. His hands itched to touch Jacob’s shoulder or arm, to guide him towards the church but he refrained. 

 

The silence of the empty church did little to console the Father as the doors shut behind them, blocking out the chatter of his flock outside. The silhouette of Jacob walking in lazy steps towards the altar was an eerie and foreboding one. The pair’s figures illuminated in the dull orange glow burning through from the window above. The Eden’s Gate insignia which had once bathed Joseph in the warmth and radiant light of understanding now cast a new and unsettling hue upon his brother and his fallen pet. 

 

Jacob dropped to his knees without warning, the body curled closer to his chest as the first painful sob broke free. He had tried to be strong, to hold it in. To avoid being seen in a weaker light. At the moment, Jacob didn’t care anymore. The pain he felt was a friendly and unwelcome one. He bent over Jasper, lying his body down but holding his torso close to his chest, the red smearing his front going unnoticed. Their hands stained red like the sins of their flesh. Jacob’s hand encircling Jasper’s, overlapping the  _ Wrath _ carved into it. Tears fell, their soft pitter patter bouncing across Jasper’s skin, trailing down his cheeks and leaving ruddy paths of dirt and blood. Uncertain hands raised to release the collar from around the mute’s throat, the heavy leather feeling like a lead weight in his grasp. The silver nameplate far too cold to the touch, the SEED name scratched and dented from wear and tear. 

 

The Father lingered in the back of the church, stepping away for only a moment to ask for a message to be sent to the other heralds.

  
  
  
  
  


Angelo had just returned from his latest shift on patrol, stepping inside the ranch with a heavy sinking feeling in his stomach. The quiet wasn’t unusual but something about it sent chills across his body. His golden eye glanced around, seeking out his Herald’s presence when the soft voices of radio chatter caught his attention. He found his way upstairs and eased down the hallway where the Herald’s room was. John’s voice was surprisingly somber which only increased the feeling of dread inside Angelo. “Alright. I understand.” There was a pause, the soft hum of static and inaudible words spoken softly into the speaker. “We’ll be there soon.”

 

John ended the radio call as he turned to greet his guard and long time lover. He didn’t speak a word, didn’t even attempt to find what to say. For once, the baptist was speechless and for all the wrong reasons. The look in his eyes hit Angelo like a lightning bolt. The way John held the radio a little too tightly, his knuckles turning white. The slack in his shoulders and the subtle twitch of his left hand like he was upset. The tight suffocating feeling in Angelo’s chest had reached a breaking point as his nerves snapped like a loaded spring. He was out the bedroom door before John could even call his name. He took the stairs four at a time and leap the last five to land at the bottom before shooting off for the front doors. John called after him but Angelo couldn’t hear a word he said through the thundering of blood in his ears and the rapid beating of his heart. 

 

A pair of peggies stepped in front of the body guard and attempted to stop him. Angelo engaged them into a fight, a fist hitting one in the face as his elbow landed a blow against the other’s rib cage. There was more shouting, John’s voice mixing in with the other peggies as Angelo was swarmed. He was subdued as the keys to his truck were pried from his grasp and handed to John who stepped towards the forlorn man. Angelo’s expression was a storm of emotions all clouding together and interchanging. “Angelo, you need to stop an-”

 

“Let me see my brother! I need to see Jasper, now!” A single good golden eye stared the baptist down, sharp as always but deadly. His words were laced with their own venom, a warning to any and all who attempt to stop him. 

 

“We will go see him together. But you’re not driving. You’ll kill us before we even get there like this.” He handed the keys to another peggy and gestured for them to start the truck. Slowly, the other peggies released the guard as if he were a viper ready to turn on them and attack at a moment’s notice. They scattered once permitted and kept their distance. Angelo adjusted his uniform where it was ruffled and with a little coaxing from John, he allowed himself to be pulled up into the backseat of the vehicle. The rest of the drive was spent in silence. 

 

The Baptist was greeted at the gates and allowed to pass through. Joseph was nowhere to be seen once they pulled up to the church but the peggies standing guard outside assured them he was inside and they were urged to enter. John was slow to respond, hesitant even. His hand grasping Angelo’s bicep but the guard pushed on with wanton abandon, throwing the doors open with a bang that startled both the guards and Joseph who was on the other side. He raised his hands to slow Angelo and stop him to speak, but Angelo pushed on, ducking around Joseph and charging right to the front where the solemn figure of the soldier knelt. Jacob was unmoving as Angelo approached.

 

Angelo’s gaze caught the tail end of red fabric pressed to the dusty wooden floors. His footsteps sped up until he saw the pale figure cradled in the soldier’s arms. Angelo paused for a moment, fingers curled into fists before he dropped down on the opposite side of the soldier. “Jasper!” He blurted, prying his brother’s body away from Jacob’s grasp. There was a moment where Jacob refused to relinquish the mute but after another hard pull, he released his grasp and watched as Angelo wrapped his arms around the limp form. 

 

A litany of spanish mingled with english, falling from quivering lips. His words broken up in sobs as he lamented for his brother’s life. The grief wrestled back and forth with anger as Angelo curled Jasper closer into his lap as if he could protect what’s left of Jasper from being snatched away. “Why didn’t you protect him? Why didn’t you save him? This is your fault! You took my brother from me!” The bitter resentment and anger was a dagger’s edge to the soldier’s heart but Jacob did nothing to brace himself against it. He let Angelo deliver one blow after another, watching as he coddled the lifeless form of what once was the only family he had. 

 

John’s voice rose to calm Angelo but the fiery spanish was turned onto the baptist before the energy and the anger fizzled out into inconsolable sobs. The Seed siblings were left with little to say. No prettied up words could soothe the pain they all felt and none wished to be the one to try. The bitterness that burrowed inside with grief, festered like sickness forcing each to find their own corner to process their loss. Joseph settled beside Jacob to offer words of comfort and support. He held off on the preaching and chose instead to be the shoulder for his brother to lean on, much as he did when they first reunited all those years ago. 

 

John on the other hand, had a much harder task of trying to comfort Angelo. The guard refused to relinquish his hold of his brother, even as the blood stained his clothes and skin. Angel had combed his fingers through Jasper’s hair so much he was starting to leave marks in his desperation. All John could do was hold Angelo and assure him little mercies and pretty promises. That he would get the send off he deserved. That he would be mourned as was right. That he did not die alone or in vein and he was surrounded by family. 

 

Faith arrived by the time things had calmed down a bit. Her own upset was tended to by Joseph as she took her time to mourn the loss and grieve. The news had already spread throughout the ranks of Eden’s Gate by morning, the death of the cult’s attack dog. It had resistance and cult radios crackling like crazy. But none of that reached the Heralds. First thing in the morning, they took two trucks out of the compound before the early light of dawn and drove to the Whitetail Monument. The entire drive was achingly long and silent in both vehicles. Jacob and Faith in one truck while John and Joseph were in the other, Angelo sitting in the back. Jasper’s body was wrapped up and carefully placed into a pine box built overnight. Ohana was fetched from his bag in the truck and tucked safely inside so Jasper would never be lonely or afraid. The box was secured in the back of the truck and covered with a protective tarp, ensuring a safe passage along the steep winding roads.

 

It was at the base of the monument where Jacob and John started to dig the grave while the soil was still soft and damp with the midnight dew. Joseph and Faith watched over the work while Angelo sat beside Jasper’s box protectively, his gaze overlooking the trail leading up to the monument incase if any unwelcome guests come wandering by. It was a peaceful morning, the soft breeze dancing through the pines and rising up the trail. The Whitetail Deer statue stood proudly overlooking the mountain range. As the morning light cast over the landscape, it was beautiful. One of Jasper’s favorite places to go when he was by himself. A location both Angelo and Jacob were adamant on laying him to rest. It was the only thing they managed to agree on. It took Jacob and Angelo to lift the box and carry it to the grave. John and Joseph helped lower it inside with a few straps slipped underneath the box. Once he came to rest, Joseph said a few words in prayer, leading the ceremony before each stopped to speak their peace.

 

John, for all his monologuing and speeches, had little to say, choosing to keep it short and sweet. He bid Jasper farewell and dropped a flower into the grave from a bouquet Faith had brought with them, flowers grown from Joseph’s compound. Faith was next, following John’s example to keep it short before dropping her own flower in. Jacob was after that, twirling the flower in between his fingers as he murmured. “You did good, pup.” His voice was brittle, stopping briefly as he took a deep breath. “You were the best I could ever ask for. Rest easy now.” Jacob dropped the flower in to lay across the facade of the box with the rest. He stepped away with John, Faith and Joseph to give Angelo some privacy. 

 

Angelo looked down at the brightly colored lilies in hand, the same ones that Jasper had received from Faith as a birthday gift the year prior. He had planted many of the lilies around the county, mostly at each compound to give a little extra color to the dull industrial setting. The sweet fragrances were always appreciated when they bloomed. “I guess this is it then. I’m gonna miss ya Jar-Jar but I hope you’ll be up there looking out for me.” He offered a small smile. “When your not cooking with Miss Petunia.” There was a soft chuckle on his lips. “Tell her hello for me, would ya? Send her my love.”Angelo glanced down at the flower before tossing it into the grave with the rest. “Sleep easy brother. I love you.”

 

Walking away from that grave was the hardest thing Angelo has ever had to do and every step was like cement blocks were dragging his ankles. He wiped the tears from his face and joined John by the truck where they held each other quietly, Angelo’s soft sobs muffled into John’s shoulder. Jacob and Joseph finished burying the box and put up a carved cross to watch over the spot. A floral wreath hung from it compliments of Faith. Jacob found the rest of the seed packets Faith had given Jasper and they carefully buried the seeds in the turned up earth covering the grave, hoping they would take to the soil and flourish. They lingered around the monument until late afternoon before they made their way back to the trucks to leave. The conversations were soft remembrances of older times and reminiscing. The mourning turned to memories as they smiled and laughed and celebrated a life that had quietly entered all of theirs and made an impact that none could have foreseen only to leave just as quickly. 

**Author's Note:**

> "Rest in Peace Pup."
> 
>  
> 
> Please leave a comment down below of what you think. I really appreciate feedback. I cried for two hours while writing this because Jasper means so much to me. It was like losing a family member.


End file.
